Bonus United or Delta or Southwest miles for Marriott gift card purchases

Both United Airlines and Delta (And Southwest, too!) are offering bonus miles when you purchase Marriott gift cards. Gift cards can be used like cash at more than 3,700 locations in the Marriott family. This promo offers a pretty good way to double dip on collection points in the two programs.

The promotions are slightly different so it is worth looking at the details to figure which is best (though no reason you cannot do both if you want).

For United the deal is valid from October 15 – November 26, 2012. It maxes out at 5,000 MileagePlus points earnt and the earn rates are:

• 500 MileagePlus Miles with a $150 Marriott Gift Card purchase
• 1,000 MileagePlus Miles with a $250 Marriott Gift Card purchase
• 2,000 MileagePlus Miles with a $400 Marriott Gift Card purchase

To get the full 5,000 bonus points will require buying $1,050 in cards.

For Delta the deal is valid from October 19 – December 15, 2012. The earning rates are not nearly as good as what United is offering but the max number which can be earnt in 10,000 rather than 5,000. Here’s the earn rates for Delta:

• 200 Delta SkyMiles with a $100 Marriott Gift Card purchase
• 500 Delta SkyMiles with a $250 Marriott Gift Card purchase
• 2,000 Delta SkyMiles with a $1,000 Marriott Gift Card purchase

That’s a $5,000 spend on cards to max out the deal.

For Southwest the deal is valid until November 30, 2012. The earn rates are possibly best here, though it depends on if you have use for the points. Here are the rates:

• 1,200 Rapid Rewards® Points for each $100 Marriott Gift Card purchase
• 3,000 Rapid Rewards® Points for each $250 Marriott Gift Card purchase
• 6,000 Rapid Rewards® Points for each $500 Marriott Gift Card purchase

The maximum earn with Southwest is 12,000 points so that’s $1000 in spending.

Some folks have suggested clicking in through the Chase Ultimate Rewards online mall or other, similar shopping portals to further maximize earning on this deal. When I look it seems to be different sites/links and the promo isn’t available through the online portals so that may or may not work.

I don’t have any Marriott stays coming up and I don’t anticipate getting much value from the deal personally. That said, it is a pretty good promo if you’re a Marriott person and like the MileagePlus or SkyMiles points, too.